Marathon bombing survivor throws first pitch at Red Sox game a day before running the 2016 race
One day before he’ll run the 120th Boston Marathon, Patrick Downes threw out the first pitch at Sunday’s Red Sox game.
Thanks to Patrick Downes for throwing out today’s first pitch! Good luck running the Marathon tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/4tsE4I5fL0
— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 17, 2016
This year, Downes will be one of the first two people running the marathon after losing a limb in the 2013 bombing, according to The Boston Globe. Along with the help of friends and family, he’s raised more than $22,000 for the BC Strong scholarship, which will help to fund tuition at Boston College for a student who has overcome physical disabilities.
Downes lost his left leg in the bombing, while his wife, Jessica Kensky, eventually lost both legs. The two often ran together, but Kensky has been slower to recover, suffering from a staph infection and needing additional operations as other complications arose, according to the Globe.
Downes didn’t want to run without his wife, who still suffers from severe pain and has trouble walking. Still, she encouraged him to start training, and he’s completed a five-mile race and a half marathon in the past year, the Globe reported. On Monday, he’ll set out to run the 26.2 miles form Hopkinton to Boston.
“I feel like I’m celebrating the body that I have left, and it feels spiritual,” Downes told the Globe. “It feels triumphant.”
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